To wonder why there are no nice toy shops/ departments anymore?!

[StrawberrySkittles]

There used to be so many lovely toy shops/departments about 10 years ago. My DN loves dolls and we wanted to take her to a toy shop / department but we cant find one.

Hamleys in London is not ideal as we couldnt drive to it but all the toy departments like John Lewis, who 10 yeaes ago had a lovely selection of prams and dolls on displsy doesn't anymore, it is all electronic toys.

Toys r us isnt half as good as it used to be. We're in hertfordshire, is there nice toy departments we don't know about??

It is worth the trip to Harrods if you can.

We went today and there was a 50% sale and things were cheaper than Hamleys. Hamleys was dire and packed full of people and buggies and children!!

Boys much preferred the Harrods experience even though we didnt buy anything.

Self ridges? I was pleasantly surprised..... Lots of plastic still, but also things like cabbage patch dolls

Why no nice toy shops now? Toys R Us and Amazon killed them all.

Another reason to move back to Norfolk.

Norfolk is lovely...

We took DD to hamleys when she was smaller to choose her first bear, was shocked by how tatty it was, I remember it as a children's treasure trove

I'm sitting here laughing at all the responses to go to harrods as if it's a normal everyday place to go .

You do know that 90% of Harrods things are the same price or cheaper than elsewhere? For Xmas I brought dh a set of headphones that were 20% cheaper there than anywhere else, and a kindle for myself in the summer was equal to amazon

Kids toys/ non designer clothes/ electric etc etc are the same as any other department store

The whole point about Harrods is that it's not an everyday place to go, it's a special treat for the DCs like you would hope Hamleys would be, but never actually is. But in fact the markup over eg John Lewis for things like Lego or Barbie is pretty reasonable - you'll normally spend a couple of quid more than you might have done if you shopped around, but that few quid extra is very good value for an hour's entertainment for the family.

Exactly ItsaTIARA!

We have NEVER been to Harrods before. It was part of a day trip to London yesterday but it was amazing! It was huge and magical and like a proper toy shop.

My boys are 10 and 8 and were gobsmacked.

We then went to Hamleys and it was a complete let down. DS2 said 'I am soooo disappointed!'

Agree that The Sentry Box in Glasgow is lovely. My eyes still mist over with nostalgia when I remember The Walrus and The Carpenter on Sauchiehall St, truly a magical toy shop for children.

Re Harrods we never buy anything,it's just the experience.The window displays are lovely.We used to go early
Dec to get ideas.They normally had stuff to try and the dc loved the over the top ness of the whole shop eg 4 poster dog beds,dog patisserie counter,the enormous beds with TVs that would come out of the end....We live in Devon and my 3 just used to walk around with eyes as big as saucers.

Thanks to people who suggested websites, I have found a few dolls which were exactly what I was after!

If you are looking for a nice pram, dd had a Silver Cross traditional one when she was young. The coach-built type. It was beautiful. It was bought from a shop that sells baby prams etc. Its worth looking at somewhere like that that sells both baby stuff and childrens stuff. Sometimes Mama and Papas shops sell both.